Thanks for your time today! So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story? Where you started and where you are now.
Thanks for having me. I always enjoy the opportunity to talk about music and my part in promoting the craft.
In my house, music was always playing. My mom played music and nature sounds to me in utero and my parents both loved music and how it can set your spirit free from your cares!
My dad loved classic country and my mom more classical or things from the Baptist hymnal.
I started wanting to be a recording engineer first and was getting paid to record bands in my attic studio by the time I was 16. I moved into a building in downtown Macon by the time I was 19 and I am now in my early 40’s and still working as a full time producer/engineer along with being a music educator at 2 universities and I also tour with my band.
It was after I started recording bands and heard the first garage band record some original music, that I knew I also wanted to be a musician.
I have had the honor to study with Stanley Jordan and also attend Mercer University, where I now teach music technology. I am now working towards my goal of a masters degree from Berklee online.
I have done all this while struggling with health challenges from a brain tumor which also took my eyesight along with my endocrine system.
Can you tell us any plans for this year? New music? Tour? We want all the details we can get.
We started 2020 off right by performing to a packed crowd at the world famous Whisky A Go Go on January 3rd. We had the honor to be introduced by my buddy Scott Travis, who just happens to be the drummer for Judas Priest!
I’ll be back in LA at the end of January for GRAMMY week. I will be networking and performing and, of course, attending the broadcast of the GRAMMYS.
We are hard at work mixing a live album of the “Joey Stuckey Trio” from some of our gigs from our 2019 summer tour that took us to NYC, NJ, DC, LA, MI, CA, IL and many more places. Some of our shows were multitracked. I am also working hard to mix a jazz album we recorded in a weekend, and at some point this year, I believe that my very talented friend, Ron Saint Germain and I will do some music together and it might also involve my friends Ross Hogarth and Nate East.
But my biggest project is the new studio space I am creating next door to my already existing studio. This new building is 9,000 square feet and is going to be a stunning place to come and work. Please feel free to follow our progress at www.ShadowSoundStudio.com.
Tell us. What are the first and the last records you bought, and where did you buy them? Were they CD, vinyl or digital?
I think my first record I paid for with my own money was one of these—Michael Jackson “Thriller”, Def Leppard “Pyromania”, or U2 “War”. These were vinyl, but I quickly switched to cassette —because blind people and turntables aren’t a match made in heaven LOL. I think I bought them at Record Bar.
The last album I bought was “Time Machine Live In Cleveland” by Rush because of Neal’s passing. This was a digital download from iTunes.
Share with us something unique about yourself that most people don’t know.
Hmmm, so many choices LOL. I supposed the first thing that springs to mind is that I have become a super fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Of course, I can’t appreciate the outrageousness of the outfits LOL, but what I love about drag and where RuPaul has taken the art form is the amount of healing and love people find in this craft. It is truly therapy and those folks have found and crated a real community of support. Of course there is in-fighting, but that is true in any family. I view my music as taking on the same kind of role. Yes, it is entertainment, but moreover I hope my music provides some inspiration and solace!
What would you say sets you apart from others?
Each life on this amazing world of ours is unique and of value. However, the fact that I am blind is a difference and in this particular instance, gives me a bit of an edge on some of my sighted competitors because I am only listening when I am working, I am not distracted by anything else—I just hear the music. I also believe that each artist should be who they are and not try to be like anyone else. I have some producer friends that think if you don’t sound like Kelly Clarkson you aren’t a pop artist, or if you don’t sound like Keith Urban, you aren’t a real country artist. But my position is that we already have music from those guys so just be the best you can be and there will be an audience.
Anything else you would like our readers to know?
Please do visit www.joeystuckey.com and check out our fan zone. It has a lot of ways for you to listen to my music for free and then, if you like, ways for you to become a fan and get even more free music.
Where can we find you on IG?
@jstuckeymusic
For Bookings: Bsquaredmgmt.com
Interview Inquiries: [email protected]
End of Interview